D8. Accident Reporting in Domiciliary Care

Policy Statement

This policy outlines the procedures when any employee, volunteer, person receiving care, visitor to {{org_field_name}} or contractor has an accident, near miss or when a dangerous occurrence occurs on agency premises or as a result of work-related activities.

For the purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply.

An accident is an unplanned event that causes injury to persons, damage to property or a combination of both.
A near miss is an incident that could have caused an accident or injury, but in the event did not — near misses may be warning signs of problems and should be reported and recorded so that proactive action can be taken to investigate the causes and prevent a more serious accident from occurring.
Work-related activities include any activities that are related to the provision of care.

This policy covers reporting and recording procedures for managers, employees and non-employees. Suitable information and training will be given to all personnel regarding accident reporting.

{{org_field_name}} recognises that keeping records of accidents and safety incidents at work is required by law and is an important part of any health and safety risk management process. The analysis of comprehensive accident records is a valuable management tool that can be used to aid risk assessment and put in place safety actions to prevent accidents in the future.

On a larger scale, the collection of reports about serious incidents that may endanger the public is an essential role for an enforcing authority such as the HSE, local authorities and regulators.

Legal Requirements

{{org_field_name}} complies with the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act (2014) (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 in respect of service user care, particularly 12: Safe Care and Treatment and the following regulations relating to accident management, reporting and investigation.

It is a requirement of the Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1979, as amended, that organisations with 10 or more employees must keep records of all workplace accidents resulting in personal injury in an appropriate accident book.
Reporting certain types of serious work-related accidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a legal requirement under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR).
The Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977 require an employer to inform any appointed union safety representative of a notifiable accident to allow them to conduct an investigation.

The following HSE guidance will be followed:

INDG453 Reporting Accidents and Incidents at Work. A Brief Guide to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR)
HSG245 Investigating Accidents and Incidents: A Workbook for Employers, Unions, Safety Representatives and Safety Professionals
HSIS1 (rev3) Reporting Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences in Health and Social Care.

Procedures

In {{org_field_name}}, the following policies and procedures will apply:

Emergency/Accident procedures

Incidents and accidents must be managed in an appropriate manner to contain and eliminate any danger and minimise risk — all incidents or accidents occurring in a person’s home, or while a homeworker is travelling to or from {{org_field_name}} of a person receiving care, should be immediately reported to the duty manager in charge.
More serious accidents in the domiciliary care organisations offices or in the services of people receiving care may require urgent remedial action and must be escalated to the senior management of {{org_field_name}} as required.
Immediate first-aid or emergency medical treatment should be sought and applied where there are injuries — where necessary, an ambulance should be called.
Where necessary, in the event of an emergency, {{org_field_name}}s crisis management and business continuity procedures will be put into action by the person in charge.
Suitable training will be provided to managers and staff in dealing with accidents and emergencies, including how to respond to incidents and accidents in people’s homes.
First aiders will be nominated and trained in compliance with the agencies first-aid policies.

Accident reporting

Accident book reports

Domiciliary care staff or volunteers must report any accidents, incidents or near misses immediately after they happen or are discovered, no matter how minor they are or who they involve — care staff working in people’s homes should report what happened to their duty manager or supervisor.
In general, minor accidents, incidents or near misses will be recorded and reviewed as part of routine health and safety procedures — this will usually involve the accident, incident or near miss being recorded in the accident book through submission of an accident/incident form.
The accident book should be used to record the following information:

date and time of the incident
full name and address of the person or persons affected
the person completing the entry (if different from above)
the occupation(s) of the person(s) affected
injuries caused and action taken
place where the accident or near miss occurred
a brief but clear description of the circumstances and sequence of events.

In this organisation, the accident book comprises accident/incident forms which are completed by the person involved in an accident or incident or by a witness — all forms are designed to comply with data protection law.
Aside from informing the duty manager and making a report, staff must maintain strict confidentiality relating to the details of any accident or incident.
Managers will be responsible for assisting contractors, agency staff and people who use the services/relatives in complying with {{org_field_name}}’s health and safety/accident reporting policies and procedures.

RIDDOR reports

Any serious accident or emergency incident which may require notification under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) must be immediately escalated to senior management.
Incidents to be reported under the RIDDOR Regulations include:

date and time of the incident
full name and address of the person or persons affected
the person completing the entry (if different from above)
the occupation(s) of the person(s) affected
injuries caused and action taken
place where the accident or near miss occurred
a brief but clear description of the circumstances and sequence of events.

RIDDOR reports should be made by a senior manager using the appropriate online form on the HSE website or, in the case of a death or serious injury, by phone immediately to the HSE reporting centre on 0845 300 9923.
If an incident results in over seven consecutive days of incapacity for work, it should be reported online under RIDDOR within 15 days.
Copies of RIDDOR reports should be kept with the accident book.

Accident investigation

All accidents, incidents, dangerous occurrences and/or near misses occurring on premises which are the responsibility of {{org_field_name}}, or occur in the services of people receiving care in connection with the work activities of {{org_field_name}}, should be investigated.
Investigations should be conducted or led by a suitably trained manager.
Investigations should be proportionate to the severity of the accident or incident, the degree of risk and the scale of harm — investigations into serious incidents should result in a formal report to the senior management of {{org_field_name}}.
Appropriate people should be involved in the investigation — this should include outside experts/contractors as required.
The objectives of any accident investigation should be to determine the sequence of events leading to the accident and establish any unsafe acts and/or unsafe conditions within this sequence that were the direct causes of the accident.
Appropriate action should be taken by the management of {{org_field_name}} following an accident investigation — risk assessments should be reviewed and any learning from the investigation applied in order to prevent recurrence and maximise safety in the future.
Investigations should be conducted in full collaboration with workforce representatives.
{{org_field_name}} will provide full access and co-operation where an HSE inspector or an inspector from a relevant regulatory body pursue their own investigation.

Reviewing accident/incident records

Accident records should be regularly reviewed by the senior management of {{org_field_name}} in order to ascertain the nature of incidents that have occurred and to identify any accident patterns or trends.
The review, which should be conducted with staff safety representatives, should be in addition to any individual investigation of the circumstances surrounding any incident.

Care Quality Commission Notifications Procedures

{{org_field_name}} will comply with the requirements of the respective regulations to notify the CQC of any accident that has resulted in serious injury to or death of a person and in relation to its statutory duty of candour.

Training

Staff are given training in {{org_field_name}}’s accident reporting procedures in their induction and refresher training as needed.

Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}

Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}

Next review date: this policy is reviewed annually (every 12 months). When needed, this policy is also updated in response to changes in legislation, regulation, best practices, or organisational changes.

D8. Accident Reporting in Domiciliary Care